


pAradigm

by novachaneg (novachaeng)



Category: VALORANT (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26844859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novachaeng/pseuds/novachaneg
Summary: sAge ' s thoughts are always conflicted ,especially when a specific vampire changes everything she once knew .
Relationships: Killjoy/Viper (VALORANT), Reyna/Sage (VALORANT)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

_pAr·a·digm_

_/ˈperəˌdīm/_

_in science and philosophy , a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns_

♠

“Another day, another danger,” Sage murmured as she walked the long halls of Valorant Protocol on the way to her medical ward. The headquarters were very quiet at this time of the morning. No gunshots were fired in the rage, Phoenix and Jett weren’t doing their Tom and Jerry act around the base, Brimstone wasn’t shouting orders at the other agents; all was serene. That’s why Sage loved coming to the Protocol early. It just radiated so much peace, and let the other agents tell it, Sage was all about peace. 

She opened the double doors of the medical unit and sat down at her desk with a prolonged sigh. Looking at the clock on the wall, she realized it would be almost an hour or so before the other agents stumbled into headquarters, which meant she had about two hours to herself before anyone required medical assistance. Sage usually took these quiet moments to self-reflect, though these self-reflections almost always turned into her fighting with her thoughts. 

She often wondered how she got into this situation. Out of everyone impacted byThe First Light, why did one have to be her? And not only that, but what was so unique about her to be scouted for Valorant Protocol, the organization with the most top tier gunman, fighters, and engineers? She didn’t view herself to be in the same league as the other agents. Though she never showed it, the sentinel was constantly self-conscious about her mission performances. She was only a medic. Surely it wouldn't be hard to replace her, right?

“One mistake and you’re out of here,” Sage remembered the booming voice of Brimstone at Valorant’s orientation, ”So don’t ever mess up.” Though those words were proven to be just used for shock value as Brimstone in actuality was like a fun-loving uncle, her mind played the sentence over and over again before every mission. It was a mantra at this point. Not only were her thoughts swarmed with self-doubts, but they also consisted of moral thinking.

At first, she thought she made the right choice of working for Valorant instead of the tyrannical Kingdom Company, but now she wasn’t so sure. Everywhere Sage went, she had to stay hidden, and everything Sage saw was propaganda about how great Kingdom was and how Valorant were criminalistic vigilantes. If they were really the good guys, then why did they receive so much hate? Why did they have to hide like criminals if they supposedly weren't ones? Sage couldn't tell if the propaganda was getting to her head or if she actually made the wrong decision working for the Protocol. Kingdom might have been the better choice. 

Either way, she didn't have time to think more deeply about it as three soft knocks at the door tore her out of her thoughts. This was mighty unusual.

Sage quirked an eyebrow at the door. It was unheard of for someone to bother her at this time. Something important must be going on. 

"Come in," Sage hesitantly spoke to whoever was behind the door.

One of the double doors slowly opened, revealing one of the Protocol’s best duelists behind it. The day was increasingly becoming more unexpected. 

"Reyna?" Sage asked in genuine confusion. Reyna had never stepped foot in the medical unit ever since joining the Protocol, not even for the bi-monthly "required" health checkups. With her self healing ability, the vampire never needed to get medical assistance and just handled all her physical ailments herself. "Why are you here?" 

"No need to sound so offended by my presence," Reyna responded to Sage's harsh tone with an eye roll.

"I did not mean to, I am very sorry," Sage quickly apologized, realizing how rude she sounded. She honestly didn't mean to sound offended, she just didn't know how to interact with the other woman. They weren’t exactly close friends, though Sage liked to think she was a pretty friendly person.

She was more of a listener and not very authoritative, which made her quite easy to get along with. She was also always there to give friendly advice to whoever needed it. The other agents saw her as a reliable person to confide in and an important member of the team. All of these traits meant that Sage had strong bonds with all the agents at Valorant. That is all agents but one. The one agent in question being the one that was currently standing in her doorway.

It wasn’t that Sage disliked Reyna, it’s just the two were polar opposites in many ways. Sage was a calming presence, wherein Reyna struck fear into everyone. Sage was more of an aid and assistant, while Reyna was very domineering. But perhaps the biggest difference between the two, the difference that mainly prevented Sage from trying to connect with the other woman, was the fact that the Radianite that coursed through their veins were of very different application. 

Reyna spent her time as a grim reaper, chasing souls to use for her personal bidding, while Sage chased them to put them back in their perceived rightful place. This huge difference caused animosity between the two, at least from the healer’s perspective. Sage saw the vampire as overly aggressive and lacking morality. She would never outrightly say that, as Reyna was one of her teammates and a valuable one at that, but it was just a strongly held belief that she always had in the back of her mind. 

From Sage’s point of view, there was no reason to take someone’s life unless absolutely necessary, a point of view that Reyna didn’t share at all. Murdering to her was like knitting to an elderly lady: nothing but a fun pastime and hobby. The vampire even often made bets with the other agents to see who could garner the most kills during missions. Things like that left an awful taste in the healer’s mouth and pushed her farther away from her teammate, from a figurative standpoint at least. From a literal standpoint, there was no way to push Reyna away now as she was still occupying her doorway. 

Sage cleared her throat as she stared at the vampire, waiting for her to explain her appearance. Reyna instead just looked at her with knitted eyebrows and a slightly tilted head. “Did you need something?” Sage eventually asked as it seemed like the duelist wasn’t going to speak up.

“I did, but now my mind is somewhere else,” Reyna vaguely answered as she finally left the doorway and moved to stand right in front of Sage’s desk. Sage looked up at the other woman with a face full of suspicion. Reyna placed both her hands on the top of the desk and leaned forward, demonic purple eyes now level with Sage’s contrasting soft, brown ones. 

Sage rolled her desk chair slightly back, Reyna's closeness unnerving her. She had no idea what the other woman was planning and, though Sage knew it was probably nothing of malicious intent, she still felt she had to keep her guard up around the vampire. The healer subconsciously gulped and broke the eye contact Reyna was still trying to hold with her. 

Reyna smirked at the other agent's small but meaningful actions. She removed her hands from the desk and stood up straight. "Your heart's racing, Sage," she commented. "I know I hold frightening abilities, but I didn't know I scared you that much."

"You do not scare me," Sage replied, though her words didn't quite sound genuine. The very slight but noticeable quiver in her voice wasn’t helping her case. 

“Then why do you sound so scared, _cariño_?” 

"I just feel that you are a little too...unpredictable," Sage admitted. It wasn’t like she was entirely wrong. On the battlefield, Reyna was one of the main agents that consistently made risky plays and decisions. This, however, wasn’t the battlefield. This was Sage’s medical ward, a different place entirely. 

"It's not like I'm going to devour your soul, Sage. We're on the same team, fighting for the same cause," Reyna explained, annoyance in her tone as well as a hint of something else. Was it hurt? Sage couldn’t fathom that that would be likely. 

"I know, it is just that…" Sage's words trailed off. She knew if she continued her statement, she would potentially say something offensive, which is the last thing she wanted to do. She didn't like being rude and she also didn't want to get on Reyna's bad side. Though it seemed like it was too late for that now.

"I understand," Reyna said as her purple eyes glowed for a brief second, most definitely in anger. 

Sage instinctively rolled her chair even farther back and clutched the furniture’s armrests in panic. If she supposedly wasn’t scared before, now she definitely was, though she tried to keep her composure as much as possible. However, it is quite hard to keep your composure in front of an angry vampire that could steal your soul if they wanted. No Valorant training ever prepared her for this fight. 

"You see me as some monster, don't you?” Reyna continued speaking, “A strange _criatura_ , right?" Sage knew she didn't need to reply, the duelist already knew the harsh answer. 

Instead, the sentinel opted for a changing of subject. She wasn't expecting to have a conversation of this caliber at this time in the morning, and she definitely didn't want to continue it. "Reyna, I think this is a conversation for another time. What medical assistance did you need?"

“I just find it a little disheartening that you’ve made these assumptions about me.” Reyna obviously didn’t want to drop the topic, to Sage’s dismay. “I mean, we’ve never interacted outside of missions. I’m curious what brought you to these conclusions, is all.”

Sage once again gulped in nervousness. She never expected to be on the receiving end of Reyna’s anger and, now that she was, she didn’t enjoy it at all and wished she could easily defuse the situation like she would a spike on the battlefield. “As I said, I just find you to be unpredictable. I do not mean it rudely.”

Reyna’s eyes glowed again, but this time for a longer period, as he hands balled into fists at her sides. 

In another attempt to change the subject matter, Sage asked once again, “Are you in need of any medical assistance?”

Reyna turned around with a sigh and made her way back to the doorway, preparing to exit the room. "Nothing now," she said over her shoulder. "I thought maybe you could help with something, but now I see where we stand." With those venomous words, Reyna exited the unit and slammed one of the doors shut behind her.

Sage stared at the space previously occupied by the duelist in confusion. "That was...weird," she said aloud to herself. She never saw Reyna as someone who could get hurt or offended, but maybe that was just the savagely version of her that Sage constructed in her mind. 

To be honest, Sage knew absolutely nothing about the other agent, despite the long months they've been working together. She chose to keep her distance, which may or may not have been a fair thing to do. They only interacted when they absolutely had to, which admittedly was only through their earpieces during missions. She only knew Reyna as the demonic, soul-devouring persona she saw during operations, which was very off-putting for the healer. Sage just assumed that's how the vampire was by default, even though it was clear now that that assumption was offensive and probably not true.

Sage laid her head down on her desk in tiredness. The day had just begun, but she was already over it at this point. Her peace had been compromised and she felt entirely worn out, both mentally and physically. The interaction with Reyna did nothing to help the woeful thoughts that always plagued the sentinel’s mind. 

This morning was a huge bummer, and Sage had a hunch it would only be downhill from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol


	2. Chapter 2

Sage was sat at the canteen of the Protocol, poking the breakfast on her tray in disinterest as she was deep in thought. The headquarters was bustling with life now, as opposed to earlier in the morning. No missions were scheduled for today, so most of the agents walked around in casual clothing, only planning to work in their respective labs or hold meetings. The select few agents in their battle attire were most likely just going to practice in the range or simulated missions. Sage could already hear Phoenix and Jett bickering and betting on who could get more bullseye’s from the table next to her, Raze egging the two on. That trio was always so loud and chaotic when they were together. Sage wondered how they always had so much energy despite their tiring jobs and schedules.

“Why the long face, Sage?” Cypher inquired as he took a seat in front of his fellow sentinel, a paint-covered camera and cleaning rag in hand. The Morrocan was always on the receiving end of Raze’s pranks. “You seem a bit out of it. Care to talk about it?” He began carefully scrubbing at his camera’s surface with the rag.

“I appreciate your concern,” Sage said sincerely. Her and Cypher were always pretty close from the moment they were introduced to each other. They held a lot of similarities personality-wise, therefore it was easy for them to get along, despite Cypher’s seemingly mysterious demeanor. He was actually incredibly kind and friendly.

“Anytime. What’s on your mind?” He looked up from his camera, giving Sage his full attention. 

“Nothing in particular…” 

Cypher tilted his head and, though his face was covered by his mask, Sage envisioned him raising an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure it’s nothing in particular? Maybe a specific agent in particular?” Sage could hear the smile in his voice. “Because a little birdie told me that they saw Reyna enter your ward.”

“Did that little birdie happen to be one of the many cameras contained in your arsenal?” Sage laughed. “You are collecting information even on your off days.”

“What can I say,” the masked man shrugged, “snooping is in my nature, I can’t help it.” He went back to cleaning his camera as he asked, “but what did Reyna go to you for? My hall cam couldn’t really get a good look at her based on its placement, but from what I could tell she seemed rather nervous. And I don’t remember you two being buddy-buddy.”

Saged waved her hand in dismissal. “We are not ‘buddy-buddy’ by any means of the phrase and I still have no idea why she visited me. We had a rather...strange interaction.”

The informant nodded. “I see. You know I’m all about details though. Care you share?”

“It is rather hard to explain,” Sage said with a finger on her chin, thinking back to her previous exchange with the vampire. “However, you said that Reyna seemed nervous? What do you mean by that? She seemed perfectly fine when she entered my unit.”

Cypher hummed in thought. “Like I said it was hard to clearly see, but she seemed to be clutching her chest, almost like she was in the beginning stages of an anxiety attack.”

“That sounds quite strange,” Sage said with worry.

“Definitely is.” The table went silent for a moment. Though it seemed like his sole attention was now on his camera, Sage could sense there was more that the informant wanted to say. It seemed like that suspicion was correct as the man piped up and said, “May I ask you a question, Sage?”

“Of course.”

“I know snooping is what I do best, but I do have my boundaries. There’s something that I’ve always wondered but held back from gathering info on. I think it’s appropriate to ask about it now.” 

Sage was a little tense now. She had no idea what the other sentinel wanted to inquire about. “What do you want to ask?”

“You and Reyna,” Cypher started as he removed his attention from his cameras once more to look at Sage, “what’s up with you guys?” 

“What do you mean by that?” The healer asked, her eyebrows furrowing. 

“You know, I just never see you two talk, which I happen to find unusual. You’re friendly with everyone else in Valorant. I guess I’m just curious about whether anything happened between the two of you,” Cypher explained.

“Nothing has happened,” Sage responded with a sigh. She didn’t want to start this type of conversation again after the one she had with Reyna, but it seemed like it was inevitable at this point. “She just has always...unnerved me.”

“I see, I see,” Cypher nodded. “She can be quite scary, I will admit, but she’s ultimately a pretty charming woman.” The sentinel looked up for a brief moment in thought. “I actually think you two would get along fairly well.”

“I will have to disagree with you on that. We are too different.” 

Cypher chuckled. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase opposites attract, correct?” 

Sage smiled at her fellow agent and shook her head. “Though that may be true for magnets, it sadly does not work the same way for people.” 

“I know, I know. But hey, it couldn’t hurt to try and connect with her.” Cypher punctuated his sentence with a wink.

“Sage, Cypher! Just the two agents I wanted to see.” The sentinels looked towards the sound of the Russian accent calling their names to find Sova. The archer approached the agents’ table and placed a hand on Cypher’s shoulder. “Brimstone sent me to find you two. He’s holding an emergency meeting in his office.”

“Emergency meeting?” Cypher asked. “About what?”

“I’m simply just the messenger,” Sova replied, “But I don’t suggest you keep the big bossman waiting.”

“I guess we should get on the move then,” Cypher said standing up from his seat as Sage did the same. 

“Whatever it is, good luck to you two,” Sova said with his signature wide smile. The initiator was such an encouraging and optimistic fellow. He was a great member to have on the team, especially during stressful moments. 

The sentinels voiced their thanks and headed to Brimstone’s office. 

  
  


♠

  
  


“Great, you guys are finally here,” Brimstone said from the head of a wide table as Sage and Cypher made their way into the office room. “We can finally begin the meeting.”

The sentinels mouthed a ‘hey’ to the other three agents in the room Viper, Omen, and Killjoy, and took a seat at the long table. 

“What’s the emergency?” The masked sentinel asked.

“This better be worth my time,” Viper mumbled behind gritted teeth. The chemist hated it when she was torn away from her lab work, especially on her off days. She was even still sporting her lab coat. Sage reasoned she must’ve also been rushed to the meeting like her and Cypher were.

“I agree with the snake lady,” Killjoy’s voice spoke from across the table. “Raze is in the middle of a pranking spree and I’m honestly scared to leave my lab unattended.” The German shuddered at the thought of her precious robots getting damaged in any way. 

“Whatever is going on, I am sure that we can be of help,” Sage said to Brimstone, trying to lighten the mood and heighten the energy in the room. 

“Yes, I’m sure you all can,” Brimstone agreed as he grabbed a remote from the table. He clicked a button and the screen behind him was activated, showing a picture of a black and white orb that the agents all recognized as Radianite. They were definitely no strangers to the substance. 

The military man stood from his chair as he began to explain why he wanted to speak to the five agents in front of him. “I’ve specifically gathered you all here to discuss some very classified information.” 

All the agents’ eyes widened in interest at the mention of the word “classified”.

“I must make it clear that this information stays between those in this room. I know that is easy for most of you,” Brimstone’s eyes darted towards Killjoy, “but I also know that some of you love to yap away.” 

Killjoy crossed her arms and pouted, though what the controller stated was very correct. The German genius was mighty talkative and also not a very great secret keeper. 

“Please don’t go around telling the other agents what I’m about to say,” Brimstone continued. “I don’t want to make the rest of the Protocol worry. Are we clear?” 

The agents nodded at Brimstone’s words, even Killjoy, though she was slightly hesitant. 

“Great, let’s continue.” Brimstone clicked another button on the remote. He looked behind him to make sure the screen showed a different image. To no one’s surprise, it didn’t. The veteran was definitely far from being tech-savvy. “How do you work this thing?” He grumbled, clicking more buttons on the remote. 

Killjoy hysterically laughed at the leader’s technological failures while Cypher facepalmed from second-hand embarrassment. Viper let out an annoyed hiss. Even though times like these were highly disorganized, Sage enjoyed them the most. 

She loved it when she could just have a giggle with her fellow agents, despite the chaotic duties they were required to handle. Even in a serious situation like this, everyone seemed rather happy and content. The healer saw Valorant as more of a family than an anti-government organization and was always delighted to see that the others seemed to feel the same. 

_ How could I ever consider working for Kingdom when I have all this?  _ Sage thought to herself. Her mind was such a fickle thing. She already knew that once she was alone again, her perspective would undoubtedly change and she would question her loyalties once more. 

Brimstone cleared his throat, drawing the agents' attention away from their laughter and putting them back in a serious headspace. It seemed he had finally figured out how to operate the monitor. Instead of it displaying the familiar substance all the agents knew and loved, it now displayed something entirely different.

“This used to be a Kingdom factory,” Brimstone explained, motioning towards the image of a destroyed building. Metal debris was littered as if an explosion took place. It was hard to believe the rubble was ever a part of a functioning infrastructure. It looked like a junkyard. “This isn’t the only Kingdom factory that has ended up like this.” Brimstone clicked his remote once more, revealing a slideshow of multiple Kingdom locations that had seen the same terrible fate as the first picture showed.

"What happened?" Sage asked stunned. Kingdom was the biggest government organization, it was very weird that their factories seemed to be getting bombed. And not only that but why was there no news coverage about it? Why would Kingdom want to keep these supposed attacks under wraps?

"According to Valorant's lower level informants, what happened in those pictures was a Radianite blast," Brimstone informed. 

"But that's impossible," Killjoy spoke. "We've all seen Radianite blasts first hand. We all know that they don't damage buildings, only living things."

The other agents nodded to Killjoy's words. Interacting with Radianite was the number one part of their job and they had never heard of it acting in this way.

"That's the interesting part," the veteran took his seat back at the head of the table, "It seems that Radianite is starting to become unstable. It's unclear whether it's because of Kingdom's countless experiments with it or if that's just the nature of the substance." 

The Valorant members at the table all shared confused and worried glances with each other. When Brimstone called for an emergency meeting no one expected it to be something this alarming. Emergency meetings were only ever called as a result of failed spike missions or because of security breaches, all of which were easy to take care of. This situation, however, didn't seem like it would be as straightforward as the other two.

"I have a specific task for all of you to take care of, are you ready to hear them?" Brimstone asked, to which all the agents hesitantly nodded. "Great! Let's start with Cypher. It's pretty simple. Just get all the info you can on Kingdom's Radianite experimentation and the nature of the Radianite explosions."

Cypher did a small salute to the commander. "Got it."

"Now Viper and Killjoy," Brimstone began, "I'll need you two to work together. It's no secret that you guys are the brightest brains in Valorant. It shouldn't be hard for you to do some Radianite experimentation of your own, just on a much smaller scale than Kingdom of course. We don't want any damage to happen to headquarters."

"Aye, aye captain!" Killjoy exclaimed. She seemed to be excited to get to work with the chemist. It wasn't a secret that Killjoy had more than a little crush on the other agent.

Viper, on the other hand, sighed in disappointment. She would much rather work alone and definitely didn't have the energy to keep up with the always vibrant German, but it's not like she could refuse a mission, especially not one of this importance. 

"And lastly, Sage."

The medic stiffened in nervousness as Brimstone addressed her. This was an extremely serious situation and she would undoubtedly be given an extremely serious task. As usual, she was worried about not being able to live up to standards. 

"I'll need you to keep an eye on the Radiants of our team. We still don't know how Radianite instability affects Radiants, so you need to be on high alert when it comes to their physical health and ailments."

Sage nodded in understanding. "I will not let you down," she said more to reassure herself than the controller. This was definitely an important job, and Sage was already feeling anxious about it. 

_ “One mistake and you’re out of here, so don’t ever mess up.” _

“That’s all the missions,” Brimstone informed. “I’d like you all to get to them and receive any new information as fast as possible. Report to me if you find out anything of importance.” 

“Wait a second,” Cypher said. “What’s Omen’s mission?” He said pointing to the shadowy figure sitting next to Viper. Sage had actually forgotten the agent was there, he was always so quiet.

Brimstone nervously chuckled. “I think we already know by this point that wherever Viper goes, Omen follows. Who am I to tell him not to?”

“Our great commander is afraid of the spooky ghost boy!” Killjoy laughed, which in turn caused Brimstone to scowl at her. 

“It’s fine,” Omen spoke in his usual husky voice, “I’m afraid of what I have become too.” With that utterance, the shadowy figure dissolved into clouds of smoke before disappearing completely. No matter how many times she’s seen him teleport, Sage would never get used to it. She never understood how the mechanics worked. Even so, it was undoubtedly a great ability to have on the battlefield and maybe even off of it as well. 

“He’s such an interesting fellow, isn’t he?” Cypher said with a smile to his voice.

“So are we done here?” Viper asked. 

“Yes, this meeting is adjourned!” Brimstone announced with a salute to his fellow agents. 

Viper was quick to get out of her seat and exit the room. “Sabine, wait for me!” Killjoy sprinted after her, green beanie almost falling off her head from her quick movements. Sage could hear Viper outside the room scolding the genius for the use of her real name. 

“Seems like it’s going to be a long day for Viper,” Cypher joked. 

“A long day for all of us,” Brimstone sighed, leaning back in his chair. The old dog was already tired out just from the meeting alone. 

“It always is,” Sage said as she stood up from her seat. “I better go check on the other Radiants to see if they are feeling normal.”

Cypher stood from his seat as well. “And I am on my way to collect the needed information.”

“Good luck you two,” Brimstone nodded to the two agents. “And don’t forget about our meeting tomorrow. We need to work out the details for the upcoming spike mission.” 

The sentinels each voiced an ‘okay’ as they exited the room. 

Sage started on the route back to her ward, Cypher trailing closely behind her. 

“Hey Sage,” the masked agent called out, placing a hand on the healer's shoulder to stop her movement. 

Sage turned around to face the other agent. “What is it?”

“You should check in with Reyna first,” Cypher suggested. 

“Why is that?” 

“She needed your help with something earlier today, and now we hear about these strange Radiant occurrences,” Cypher explained. “The timing is just very interesting.”

Sage’s eyes widened in realization. “You are right…”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Cypher was quick to reassure, hearing the extreme worry in the healer’s tone. “She probably needed something else, but you should just make sure.” 

“Of course,” Sage nodded. “Do you have any idea where she would be at this time?” 

“Give me a second.” The masked agent pulled a gadget out of his pocket and stared at it for a brief moment, checking the many cameras he had sprinkled around the headquarters. “She seems to be chatting with Breach in the armory.”

“Got it. Thank you, Cypher.” 

“Don’t mention it.” 

“I’ll be going then,” Sage said, turning away from the other agent. She didn’t get two steps in before the Morrocan called her again. 

“Sage,” the healer turned once more, “this would be a perfect opportunity to get to know her. Don’t judge a book by its cover.” 

Sage thought about Cypher’s words for a moment. “You are right,” the agent paused her speech as a small smile spread on her lips, “I will keep that in mind.” If all went well, maybe this day wouldn’t be a bummer after all. 

Sooner or later, Sage would learn not to be so optimistic. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao


End file.
